Blowback
by Havoc
Summary: An AU set in a season three where Jai didn't die: Once upon a time, after a mission went pear-shaped, Annie and Jai slept together. That wasn't the sort of thing Jai could just forget. (This story comes after "A Legacy of Service" and "Off Book.")


_Author's Note: This is set in an AU season three where Jai didn't die. It finishes a storyline begun in "Legacy of Service" and continued in "Off Book." You don't need to read them to understand what's going on here, but it would probably help. _

**Blowback**

_A term used to describe the unintended consequences of a covert operation. _

_**Counterespionage: **__activities designed to impede the efforts of hostile intelligence agencies engaged in espionage against one's own nation, allies, and citizens._

Self-control had been drilled into Jai Wilcox from an early age and now, at 37, he knew it was the only reason he wasn't shaking after so clearly over-playing his hand in Arthur Campbell's office.

It had been too soon to tell Arthur his plans, Jai knew that even as he said the words, and yet, he couldn't stand another second of looking at Arthur's smug, contented face as he talked to Jai like nothing had ever changed between them. For the life of him, Jai could not imagine how Arthur had managed to convince himself that the younger man was still his protégé, ally, and friend. How had Arthur not realized that those days had ended as soon as Arthur had warned Jai to keep his distance and left him to Joan's tender mercies? Watching his boss's face freeze as Jai spelled out his intentions had (hopefully) been worth every minute of the head start that it had given Arthur.

But Jai was back in his office now, and he was shaking on the inside, no matter how practiced he was at looking calm and in control. That was… that was probably not a good idea. It wasn't in Jai's nature to second guess himself, to doubt in any way, but a person didn't get to where Arthur was if he wasn't willing to be conniving and devious. Sure, Jai had the upper hand for now, and he lacked Arthur's singular vulnerability, but Arthur was good and he was smart, and now Jai could only hope that there wasn't some hidden soft spot of him that he had left unprotected, a weakness in his armor that could be exploited like Arthur's desire to protect Joan.

In that regard, there was a benefit to being the most singularly hated guy at Langley. There was no one Jai valued enough to have them fall victim to the power play he had started with Arthur.

No one but Annie.

Which was ridiculous, because Jai had finally been convinced that there was no one here who didn't look at him and see Henry Wilcox. No one would even begin to think that Annie held any value to him now that her role as the bait to lure Ben Mercer in from the cold was done. It wasn't like anyone at the company mistook Jai for a sentimental man. His reputation as a manipulative bastard continued to serve him well, and since his promotion, he had mostly kept his distance from Annie within the walls of Langley. She was safe from being used as ammunition in a conflict she didn't know about (again) because it would never occur to Arthur that Jai would care for anyone enough for it to become a weakness. For Annie's sake, at least, maybe there were some benefits to being Henry Wilcox's son and heir.

Safely behind his office door and away from any of the eyes that were watching him more closely now that his father had been arrested for treason, Jai tried to work. He settled in his ergonomically correct chair and swirled around a bit, trying to get comfortable. It was a wonderful office, even bigger than Joan's, but he hadn't settled in yet, not really. He had no intention of staying here long, not when he had his eyes on bigger and better things, and, as such, had done nothing to make it any type of home base. He had never been the sort of person who stayed in one place for long. As soon as he had gotten here, he had started trying to figure out how to get to the next place.

Annie was still lurking in his mind.

He was going to get Joan's job. He knew it. Today may have been his first obvious play, but his plan had been in motion for far longer. The best thing about being him was that no one, not even his father, had ever cared enough to really look at what he was doing, had never really noticed that all his little moves were just pieces of larger puzzle. He was going to get Joan's job, and with it would come a shake-up of truly epic proportions. Annie had become a key player in the DPD and her loyalty to Joan had been brought through Joan's gratingly obvious favoritism. When push came to shove, Jai didn't know if he would be able to protect Annie from the fall-out.

Maybe there was a way to take her out of the mix, to get her somewhere safe before his plan was set into motion.

Annie had been an asset for Arthur, one that Jai had very nearly hand-delivered to the CIA. Now, perhaps, she could be an asset for Jai. Already, she had made promising contacts, both foreign and domestic. He could use that. He could use her, and he could keep her safe from whatever storm was coming. If he recruited her now, he could keep her under his protection, safe from any retaliation that may come as a result of his actions. No one would think twice if he tried to pull her into his department. At most, they would look at it as yet another round of counting coup with Auggie, stealing away his beloved Annie Walker from under his nose.

Jai would be lying to himself if he didn't admit that that was an added benefit.

A knock on the doorframe jolted Jai out of his thoughts and his secretary came in, arms full of folders as always, asking, "Are you ready for your afternoon schedule?"

Jai looked at her, his expression calculating, his mind full of possibilities. "Is there room in there for you to set up an appointment with Annie Walker?"

She paused, slightly startled. "Annie Walker? Yes, you're pretty much wide open past three." Like always, her tone implied, and Jai bristled a bit. He didn't need his secretary reminding him that, so far at least, his job was mostly an empty title. He had his father to thank for that. At least it was an empty title that got him an office of his own and kept him far, far away from Phoenix. Small blessings. He would be where he belonged soon enough.

"Set it up."

Becky quirked an eyebrow at him and Jai figured she had read his file as well. "Is there a reason I should give her for why?"

"I think she'll come without one," he said and Becky nodded, the look on her face speculative. She'd gossip, he knew, but he figured she'd be gossiping about the wrong thing.

Jai was caught up in paperwork when Becky announced that Annie was out front, and ready to meet. Becky was doing a bad job of not looking like she thought he was setting up a quickie during business hours; it was maybe not a trait he wanted in a secretary. She was so not going to be following him when he got out of this department. He told her to send Annie in, and stood when she entered the room. His father may have been a master of manipulation, but his mother, at least, had raised him to be polite.

He grinned as she came in. That was a nice suit, and she always looked good in blue, but nowadays, when he looked at her, the first thing he remembered was Brussels and black lace. Hot. Very hot. And very distracting, but he was a professional, so he could work past that.

"Annie, welcome. Please, have a seat."

She took a moment to look around the office before sitting and he could hope that she was at least a little impressed. "Jai, nice office. Why am I here? I didn't know that we were the kind of people who had meetings with each other."

"I wanted to talk to you about a job. I have it on very good advice," and he smirked a little internally at that, "that it's really all about hiring the right people. You're still pretty new to the agency, but I've known the beginning that you're one of the right people. We've done a lot of ops together, and I know you're smart, tough, and resourceful. I like that about you. I like it a lot. I'd like it even more if you brought those talents over to me here to the Office of Special Projects." He finished the speech with one of his best smiles. Women especially liked that smile. He used it in bed a lot. He couldn't recall if he used it in bed with Annie—so much of that night and morning had been completely unplanned—but even if he had, he was pretty sure it wouldn't matter since he was also pretty sure he had left her with nothing but good memories.

For a minute, Annie just sat and blinked at him, and for the first time in a while, he could actually read her face. Stunned disbelief, pretty much, and he let his grin get wider, a little more real. "C'mon on, Annie. Join me." His pitched his voice lower, and warmer, and she flushed a little bit. Remembering Brussels as well, he bet, and let his smile go a bit hotter. He was maybe not playing fair, but really, at this point, it was really in both their best interests if she joined the OSP.

Annie smiled, and stood up, using those long legs of hers to good advantage. He looked because he could tell she wanted him to and it wasn't like it was a hardship. She crossed to the room to him, kissed his check lightly, and whispered, "Lateral promotion, remember? I'm not sleeping with the boss."

He caught her hand, stilling her. "I was assuming that was a on-off event. Was I wrong?" He looked at her intently, and suddenly all he could think of was how she had looked under him, flushed and laughing, and he dragged her a little closer, his motives shifting like quick-sand. Brussels and black lace and he'd be lying if he told himself he hadn't thought of that night a couple hundred times since it happened and he was about as sunk as Auggie and Ben were by now, but at least he was going down happy.

She pulled her hand free, and stepped away, putting some distance between them and it suddenly got a lot easier to concentrate. "Still not that girl, Jai. But thanks for thinking of me."

He watched her walk to the door, and there were so many things he wanted to say. He wanted to tell her not to trust the Campbells so completely, to tell her that changes were coming, to tell her that maybe she should reconsider her alliances. But he had already over played his hand once today, and didn't want to do so again. And, maybe, some part of him didn't want to tell her any of that because right now, Annie liked him and he thought there was a chance that, if she knew what he was planning, that might change. And it still might change, if he got everything he wanted, he acknowledged, but it wouldn't change how he felt about her. He was starting to think that maybe nothing would.

_**Safehouse:**__ An apartment, hotel room, or other similar site considered safe for use by operatives as a base of operations or for a personal meeting. _

Jai had been to Annie's place at her sister's house before. Hell, he had even been there by her invitation, although he had stopped short at the door while he played the perfect gentleman caller. This time, she held the door open after his knock, giving him a clear view of her moving boxes, still stacked against walls. Rumor had it she had a safe house somewhere now, and about time, but he was happy for her sake that she could go back to her sister's. Annie was still new at the game, and a support system in an operative's early years was invaluable. It didn't always work out—Jai's, for instance, had been Arthur—but still, you needed someone.

"Jai, what on earth…" her voice trailed off. Jai could guess why. He wasn't exactly the kind of guy who spontaneously did anything. It was Annie. He had realized, on the drive over, that he had almost stopped analyzing and second-guessing his actions towards Annie. Somehow, now, all his brain supplied was "It's Annie," and that was enough. He wasn't going to be stupid enough to fall in love with her, that wasn't what this was, but he could honestly admit he enjoyed her company in ways he did not enjoy the company of other people.

"A little bird told me a house warming gift might be in order."

She laughed and opened the door wider. "Auggie brought me a bottle opener for my safe house. What'd you bring?"

He reached into the bag and pulled out a bottle of Old Pulteney 21 year old whiskey. "A bottle."

She reached out. "Oh my god. That's not Johnny Walker. How much did that cost you?"

"You don't want to know," Jai said. "I will say that it is worth every penny, though. I developed a taste for it when I was with the London office. I always make sure to bring back a bottle or three whenever I swing through the UK. "

Annie stepped back from the door. "Come on in."

He followed her inside and allowed the door to close behind them. Once it did, the tension between them ratcheted up a notch. They hadn't been alone together in a place with a bed since that night in Brussels. He worked on being discreet while he checked her out: oversized white button-down shirt over faded jeans and bare feet. Nice. Casual. She had cute feet. Not that he was noticing. He reminded himself that he was not here to sleep with her and tried to focus on something that wasn't going to turn him on.

Annie was still talking, even as she headed for a small cabinet and what he could only hope were glasses. "How'd you know I moved, anyway?"

"Well, as it turns out, I work for the CIA. The gathering of intelligence is a specialty of mine."

"You mean you listened to gossip. Jai Wilcox, I'm surprised at you. Help me drink this."

"Gladly." He sat down on the sofa, the same one he had seen that time he had broken in. A casual glance around the room showed him that she either hadn't unpacked her book of Sri Lankan memories, or that she had hidden it away, out of sight. He heard she had fully kicked Ben Mercer to the curb after her mission in Mexico and he was proud of her for it. Maybe she had trashed the damn thing. For her sake, he hoped so. Ben was the last man a woman should stay hung up on.

Annie poured a couple of fingers each into two glasses, and brought them over to the trunk that doubled as a coffee table in the same room. She pushed one over to Jai and then lifted her own. "To friendship," she said, and she looked at Jai for a moment, as if challenging him to say anything different.

If Jai were another man, this might be the point where he would tell her that he would always have her back. He had given up a job for her once, walked right out of an interview, because she was in trouble and needed help. If Joan had given the order about anyone else, he would be working in Berlin now. He was pretty sure Annie didn't know that. But Jai was maybe too practiced at being secretive, and playing things close. Honesty now would gain him nothing and hand her too much power.

That said, her toast required a response, so he turned to look directly at her. Blond hair, brown eyes, light skin. If he ever brought a white woman home to his mother, there was a good chance she wouldn't speak to him again for a year.

"To friendship," he agreed and clinked her glass with his own.

They drank then, taking the time to appreciate the smoothness of the whiskey. Annie, Jai knew, spent her money on shoes and, personally speaking, he appreciated every damn penny of it, but it made him think that really smooth liquor was not something she had every day. She could drink it, though, and practically make an art form of it.

"My god, that's good," she said, and he nodded, taking another sip. He was not going to watch her as she swallowed, not going to watch the interplay of small muscles moving under smooth skin. He kept his eyes on her face, and his usual cynical smile on his own.

"I'm glad you appreciate it."

There was silence then, but he didn't feel in any hurry to fill it. He'd been on enough missions with her that they had learned how to be quiet together. The fact that he remembering what it was like to take her to bed, well, that was new, but it didn't have to change anything.

She met his eyes again and her generous mouth quirked into a grin. "You're a secretive bastard, Jai Wilcox," she said and he kept his response to a light laugh. She had no idea and, in reality, he hoped she never would.

_**brief encounter -**__ Any brief physical contact between a case officer and an agent under threat of surveillance._

Jai didn't go to Allen's that night to pick up Annie. Friendship, she had said, and it had become pretty clear that she didn't mean friends with benefits. She laughed and smiled like she always did, but she kept her distance. He was only there, in fact, because it was where everyone went at the end of the day and, if there was anything Jai knew, it was the wisdom of keeping up with appearances.

But Annie was sitting alone and that wasn't like her. Looking at her, he realized that today was the day Auggie's leave had begun. Eritrea, he had heard, and something about a girl. Annie would have insisted to herself that she wasn't jealous, because, like Auggie, she was buried deep in denial, but she wasn't doing too good of a job looking fine with things right now. She looked tired, and a little sad, and not at all like she should be sitting alone in the middle of crowded bar.

Well, what kind of gentleman would he be if let her stay there alone? No kind, that was all, and so he wove his way through crowded tables to sit in the little corner of silence she had carved out for herself. On the way there, he caught the waitress' arm and asked her to bring more of whatever it was that Annie was drinking. She nodded, and he continued on, helping himself to the empty chair at her table.

"Annie Walker," he said, keeping his voice light, "you need a refill," and like he planned it that way, the waitress came back with another Scotch, neat.

"You always know what I need, Jai?" she asked, and there was a bite in her voice he didn't quite understand.

"Not touching that question," he replied, pushing the glass towards her. "Drink. It's good for what ails you."

Annie ignored the drink and instead wrapped her fingers around his wrist. It was the last thing he expected and he forced his face to stay blank. Brussels had been one very crowded month ago, and they hadn't said a word about what had happened since then. That was fine; these things had a way of happening in the field. At the best of times, they were friends. At the worst, well… Jai knew the sorts of things his coworkers said about him and how often they said them. If Annie listened, he couldn't really blame her.

"Got any guesses about what I need now?" she said, and her voice was lower and hotter. It was the voice she had used in bed and it suddenly got a lot harder to keep his face blank.

"I thought we weren't going to talk about it?" he answered. He wouldn't look at her hand on his wrist, at the way her pale skin looked against his own. He looked at her face instead, at the look in her eyes that was almost a challenge. Saying yes to that dare would be… such a very bad idea. He dropped his eyes and saw her blouse was unbuttoned to the second button, showing just the faintest hint of her curves. They had always been friends but it used to be that he didn't know what she looked like naked. That was the sort of thing you can never unlearn.

"A girl can change her mind, Jai."

Tension coiled around them until Jai finally nodded once, almost imperceptivity, and Annie let her eyes drop. "But we're not talking about it," she added.

She must be more pissed at Auggie than Jai had thought.

_**personal meeting**__ - A clandestine meeting between two operatives, always the most desirable but a more risky form of communication._

Staying the night would be a bad idea. Annie's sister wasn't sleeping much lately, and there was never any telling when Annie would be woken up by Danielle or, worse yet, either of the kids. Annie's safe harbor was a bed of chaos, and she clearly wouldn't have it any other way, but it meant that Jai found himself sneaking out at odd hours of the night more often than not.

He couldn't say when this had happened, when going to bed with Annie became something that he did. Brussels he could explain away as adrenaline and close quarters, but there was no explaining away Georgetown and Mclean. They never talked about why she had picked him up in Allen's that night, or what would happen when Auggie came home again. Feelings were not part of the discussion at all. If they were a couple at all, they weren't that kind of a couple. Not romantic. Date nights for them were drinking at Allen's and then going home to one or the other's homes. They talked about work, mostly, and family, rarely, but they never, ever discussed what it was they were doing three nights out of seven. They most especially didn't talk about what they would do when Auggie came home. "We're friends," Annie would say, and sometimes, he wasn't sure if she meant him or if she meant Auggie but he wasn't asking, either.

They didn't talk about it, and he always left before anyone else woke up.

_**compromised**__ - When an operation, asset, or agent is uncovered and cannot remain secret._

"You're sleeping with Annie."

Jai looked up. Auggie was in his doorway and Jai's secretary hadn't announced him, meaning he had probably charmed his way through. Auggie Anderson had that effect on women. He most especially had that affect on Annie Walker, which was probably half the reason he was now walking with determined steps towards Jai's desk. While Auggie hadn't staked any kind of an obvious claim on Annie, Jai couldn't say he was surprised to see the irate operative bearing down on him now.

The real trick would be keeping the smirk out of his voice. Time with Annie was memorable enough; Auggie's visible annoyance was just the icing on the cake, from his point of view. "Did she tell you that?"

No way it had been Annie who told him. To the best of his knowledge, she hadn't told anyone. Annie and Auggie had been close, sure, but Jai knew that relationships were one thing they didn't talk about, especially not now that Auggie had gotten back from Eritrea. Things were still bruised between them, he could tell, the two of them trying to pick up the pieces of a relationship that had been scattered when he winged away. She didn't talk to him about it much, true, because there were whole swathes of their lives they didn't talk about, in bed or out, but it wasn't that hard to miss. Jai and Annie were playing things close to the vest, yes, but that didn't mean someone wasn't watching just because he could, and Auggie left quite a few friends behind. Spies spied, it was what they did.

So really, it had only been a matter of time before Auggie showed up in front of him, breathing fire. He hadn't bothered to mention it to Annie because he could already guess the way that conversation would go. She would protest, saying she was just friends with Auggie, and she wouldn't understand exactly how little that would matter. Auggie adored Annie and hated Jai and it was really that simple. It wasn't even that Jai had gotten there first (that barely counted; Jai had never seen Auggie put so little effort into getting a hot woman into his bed. That more than anything else made all his protests that he and Annie were just friends believable.) It was more that Jai had gotten there at all. Jai's smirk got a little wider. He hoped it festered, he really did.

"You've been going out for drinks." Auggie's jaw was clenched, ever so slightly.

"We used to always go for drinks. Maybe I missed her company."

"You don't miss anyone's company. You're a little too calculating for all of that. Whatever play you have in mind, leave Annie out of it. She doesn't think like you."

"She's a big girl, Auggie. She can make her own decisions."

There had been times in the past when Jai had regretted his suggestion that Annie be recruited into the CIA, but now wasn't one of them. Annie was born for this life. Auggie ought to be smarter than this, was usually smarter than this, but Annie had wrapped him around her finger without even trying. He'd look down on Auggie for that, but Jai was the one who had fallen into bed with her, even when he should have known better.

"I pretty much hate you right now," Auggie said.

Jai choked back a laugh. If he kept himself under control, he could probably avoid Auggie punching him in the face. The best part was the way he knew Auggie would never admit to the real reason he was pissed. Oh, the jealousy. He hoped it burned, he really did. Yeah, he knew Auggie said he was taken, had even flown all the way out to Africa to prove it, but the real reason that he was standing here, now, was because he wanted what Jai had. Auggie would be the winner in the end, Jai knew that, it was so obvious, a person would have to be blind to miss it, but at least Jai would know that this moment would always be under Auggie's skin. It wasn't why he had slept with Annie, he had no reason for that except total stupidity and a ridiculous amount of lust, but it certainly was an added bonus.

"Are you really still standing here, expecting me to confirm something?" Jai finally asked and Auggie breathed out once, hard, in exasperation.

"Just keep your distance. She doesn't need your brand of trouble."

Jai let his voice warm up, just a little. It wasn't the full blown laughing fit he wanted to indulge in, but it would do. No need to totally alienate Auggie, not when he might need him someday. "She's a friend, Auggie. You can never have too many friends."

Jai waited until he heard Auggie clear the office before he let himself laugh. And when he was done with that, he called Annie on her cell and confirmed drinks that night. This would never last; he wasn't that guy. But the sheer pleasure of watching Auggie be pissed off without being able to say why he was pissed off… oh, that was priceless.

_**controller **__- Often used interchangeably with handler, but usually means a hostile force is involved-that is, the agent has come under control of the opposition._

Jai really had no excuse for being in the tech ops office of DPD, except that the company's rumor mill had wasted no time is passing along the message that Annie's latest mission had gone haywire. Auggie was manning his computers, ear-piece in, but there was no information and nothing to hear. He had barely spared a glance for Jai when he had come through the door, and hadn't even bothered with his usual cutting remarks. All of his attention was focused on the absence of Annie.

"What's going on?" Jai finally asked, and Auggie just glared, only making a hissing sound in response.

"We've got eyes on the ground," Joan said quietly. "They'll find her."

"I can have a team out in under 15 minutes," Jai said. "We're ready to go."

"We'll keep you up to date," Joan said, leading him from the room. "You shouldn't come back," she added, once they got out into the bullpen. "You're distracting Auggie. He needs to concentrate. If we need you, you'll be the first to know."

Jai pretty much hated Joan, and he was confident that the feeling was mutual. He had been a thorn in her side ever since he had returned to Langley and she hadn't exactly been subtle about her hostility. He had been gunning for her job ever since his promotion, and he was sure that Arthur had read her in on that fact. Politics and professionalism kept them polite at work, but the antagonism still seethed under the surface.

"Send me. Work with me here; my team can get her."

"Jai, Auggie's on it. We'll let you know if we need you."

"You've always trusted me to go after her before. What's the change now?"

"You're just not needed here," Joan said, but under the worry, there was the smallest bit of a cutting smile on her face and Jai abruptly felt like he had been punched because he realized suddenly that Joan knew. Maybe not about Brussels, not exactly, but she knew enough to have figured out that grounding Jai here was killing him, and she was taking her own small bit of pleasure in that.

He wanted to ask if she was really going to be that petty, if she was really going to put Annie at risk just to twist the knife a little bit further. Instead, he managed to grit out a reasonably calm, "I can help."

"We'll let you know," she repeated, folding her arms across her chest.

"I don't actually need your permission," he reminded her, and saw the smallest hint of a sneer, just enough to let him know his control was slipping.

"But you do need my information," she said. "And that, right now, is on a need to know basis. Is there a reason you need to know, Jai?"

Caught, Jai said nothing. Whatever Joan knew, he wasn't going to add to her store of information. Had Auggie sounded off to her? She was his go to person when pissed. "No," Jai finally said. "No reason at all." He kept his voice cool and under control. She wouldn't get anything more from him, nothing more than what she already had. So he drew in a deep breath, and left the DPD. Annie's return would make a stir, it always did. And she would come back, because she always came back. Just because he wasn't there to have her back didn't mean that things were going to end badly. This was Annie. She always came out on top in the end.

He admitted to himself, at around midnight, that he was staying because he needed to see her again. It would be a betrayal of everything they were, of all their secrets and silences, if he grabbed her and kissed her, right there, in front of Joan and everyone. It was undoubtedly a sign he was in too deep. He should run, while he still could. But he stayed, and made busy work, and waited for news.

In the end, it didn't matter. Annie came home, she was caught, and she was kissed.

And Jai just watched as Auggie finally staked a claim. There were maybe words that he and Annie needed to say to each other, to end this formally, but they weren't necessary. He had promised that they would always be friends and it was a promise he intended to keep. After all, he had always known it would be Auggie. He just didn't know it would be this soon.

_**Compartmentalization: to limit access to information to persons who directly need to know certain such information in order to perform certain tasks. **_

Jai had heard that Annie's response to Auggie not wanting Jai at their wedding was, "Just pretend he's not there." That was a good enough line that he had even allowed himself to smile. He had to give Annie credit; she had held on to their friendship in the face of Auggie's determined disapproval. He had asked once, why she did it. If there was anyone who could understand the necessity of disloyalty, it was Jai. He would have understood. Jai had risen far in the CIA, but he hadn't done it by making friends. Annie had done the same, only she had done so while inspiring the commitment of everyone around her. He admired the outcome, even if he couldn't duplicate the methods. Her enduring fondness for him baffled her supporters, and no doubt enraged Auggie every time he was reminded of it. In the face of his question, she had only shrugged, saying, "You've never given me any reason not to be your friend."

Jai had always liked that about Annie, the way she viewed her friendship with him as somehow separate from every other part of him. Years ago, he had thought it was naivety. Now he thought it was bullheaded stubbornness, a trait she had in spades.

It was her wedding night now, and he was sitting at a table by himself, watching her dance with Auggie. He figured the seating charts must have been a bitch; no one from the CIA would have wanted to sit with Jai, unless it was to curry favor. There were one or two of his minions and several single women from Annie's college years. He had danced with a few of them, so Annie would know he appreciated the gesture.

The music ended and Annie got dragged off into a swirl of girlfriends for who knew what reason, so Jai went back to his drink. She had stocked some good whiskey and sipping it reminded him of her.

He was not maudlin; he had no romantic attachment to Annie. He was happy for her, and for the life she had made for herself. Once she had let herself see the truth of her relationship with Auggie, this night had only been a matter of time. The company wasn't a job that lent itself to happy endings, but if anyone deserved one, it was Annie.

"Jai Wilcox," Auggie said and Jai looked up, surprised. Auggie was good, but Jai hadn't thought he was so distracted as to miss the other man coming up to his table. Auggie's cane danced for a few seconds, finding a chair, and then the other man sat down. "Enjoying the festivities?"

"Your wife looks beautiful," Jai said in answer and took some petty pleasure in the frown that briefly crossed Auggie's face. "Tell me she's hyphenating her name. Annie Anderson is no name for a professional woman."

"You're not dancing," Auggie said, ignoring Jai's comment.

"No, I'm drinking. Annie ordered the alcohol, didn't she? The whiskey's as smooth as silk."

"That part, yeah," Auggie said, sounding surprised. "She's got a taste for it. You know me—I prefer my Patron."

Jai knew the bite of this whiskey particularly well, but choose not to comment on it. Annie would never forgive him if he ruined her wedding by starting a fistfight with Auggie. Instead he just smiled and the silence between the two men stretched out, tense and uncomfortable, the exact opposites of silences with Annie.

"Why are you here, Jai?" Auggie finally said, breaking the moment.

"Annie invited me."

"Do you love her?"

It was the question that Auggie had been carefully not asking for three years now, ever since the one and only conversation they had ever had about Jai and Annie. The unspoken weight of it had smothered every moment between the two men since then. Jai was frankly surprised to hear it asked now, especially so baldy, so totally lacking in pretense. For a second, he could say nothing.

"Does it matter?" he finally replied.

"A little, yeah," Auggie said, his voice tight.

"Then yes, I love her. But I'm not in love her."

"Were you? After all, you were sleeping with her." There was a thread of bitterness in his voice. Jai had never confirmed or denied anything regarding his past with Annie, but he had also never asked her what Auggie knew. Their wedding day didn't seem like the best time to go altering history.

"She loves you, Auggie. It was never a contest. It was always you."

Auggie hesitated then, a rare moment of uncertainty for him. "Thank you," he suddenly ground out, the words a total surprise to Jai.

"For what?"

"For always keeping her safe."

Jai did not like Auggie, not really. Old school and new school, they grated against each other and, ever year, the cracks between them got wider. But Annie had always been a bridge. It was her special talent. He no longer thought to question it.

"You can count on me," he finally said. "For her, you can count on me."

Auggie nodded once, the emotion on his face impossible for Jai to read. He pressed one knuckle to his eye, a habit he had been drifting into, and then quickly looked away from Jai. When he looked back, his CIA mask was back on, perfect and smooth. "Well," he said like the last five minutes had never happened, "thanks so much for coming. You always class up the joint."

Jai let his lip quirk up in a one-sided grin. "Congratulations."

There would always be Brussels.


End file.
